When a sitting US president begins openly discussing the acquisition of foreign nations — from annexing Canada to developing Gaza as a luxury resort — the international community has every reason to sit up and take notice. Donald Trump‘s increasingly expansive vision for American territorial expansion has moved well beyond Venezuela, where Nicolás Maduro now faces trial in the United States. What emerges instead is a stunning blueprint for global interventionism that reads less like coherent foreign policy and more like the wishlist of a property developer with unprecedented military backing.
Trump’s Territorial Ambitions Put Nine Nations in His Crosshairs
The question haunting world capitals is no longer whether Trump intends to reshape America’s global footprint, but rather how aggressively he intends to pursue it. From the frozen Arctic to the Martian plains, Trump has made his intentions remarkably clear: if a region possesses strategic value, natural resources, or geopolitical advantage, it warrants serious consideration for American control.
The Land Grab Begins
Canada: Economic Coercion Over Military Force
Canada occupies prime real estate in Trump’s expansion strategy, though he has publicly ruled out military invasion. Instead, he champions ‘economic force’ — a euphemism for tariff warfare designed to pressure Ottawa into voluntary union with the United States. His case rests on three compelling arguments for American interests: Canada’s vast mineral wealth, including critical rare earth metals and uranium; untapped oil and timber reserves; and freshwater resources he argues should be diverted to America’s arid southwestern states.
Trump claims the US currently subsidises Canada to the tune of £200 billion annually, a figure disputed by economists but nevertheless central to his argument that statehood would eliminate trade barriers and lower taxes for Canadians. It’s a seductive pitch wrapped in economic logic, though one that glosses over fundamental questions of sovereignty and self-determination.
Colombia: Drug Wars and Military Intervention
Colombia presents a different calculus altogether. Trump frames American military action there as a law enforcement matter rather than conquest, citing the nation’s status as the world’s largest cocaine producer. He has launched particularly vitriolic attacks on Colombian President Gustavo Petro, describing him as a ‘sick man’ who ‘likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States’. This rhetoric conveniently sidesteps Mexico‘s primary role as the fentanyl trafficking epicentre — a fact that contradicts Trump’s framing of Colombian drugs as the primary threat.
The US has already sharpened its tools, slashing aid to Colombia and conducting military strikes on alleged drug vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific since September 2025. These actions suggest economic pressure may evolve into something far more militarised.
Cuba, Gaza and the Middle East
Cuba, by Trump’s logic, requires no invasion — it’s simply awaiting collapse. With Venezuela no longer propping up the regime economically, he believes the island will crumble under its own weight. He has accordingly reimposed sanctions and designated Cuba as a ‘state sponsor of terrorism’ to accelerate this process.
Gaza, perhaps most controversially, Trump envisions as the ‘Riviera of the Middle East’ — a development opportunity rather than a humanitarian crisis. His plan originally involved encouraging the permanent relocation of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents to Egypt and Jordan, a proposal drawing swift condemnation as ethnic cleansing. Yet Trump argues that American ownership would prevent recurring conflict and enable safe removal of unexploded ordnance. The moral implications barely register against his vision of luxury resorts and artificial islands.
Greenland: Arctic Strategy and Mineral Wealth
Greenland’s appeal lies in its strategic location for ballistic missile detection systems and its untapped mineral deposits — uranium, rare-earth elements, and oil reserves that could reduce American dependence on Chinese supply chains. Trump views Denmark’s Arctic territory as vital national security infrastructure, particularly given Chinese and Russian naval activity in surrounding waters. Despite repeated declarations from Greenlandic and Danish leaders that the territory is neither for sale nor militarily coercible, Trump refuses to rule out ‘economic force’ or even military action.
Mexico, Panama and Space Ambitions
Mexico faces pressure rooted in Trump’s assessment that cartels ‘run the country’, necessitating American military operations to target drug labs and cartel leadership. The Panama Canal, which Trump falsely claims is operated by China, represents another prize. Whilst a Hong Kong-based company manages two port facilities, the canal itself remains under Panamanian control — a distinction Trump appears determined to erase through geopolitical pressure.
Even Earth’s orbit isn’t safe from his ambitions. Trump aims to plant an American flag on the moon before his term ends, leasing private space stations and operating a nuclear reactor there by 2030. Mars, too, beckons — a fitting capstone to his vision of American dominance extending beyond terrestrial borders.